North County Notes: Bottle Center Approved; Ramp Rejected
Bottle Redemption Center OK'd in North AdamsNORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Planning Board on Monday night approved the opening of a bottle redemption center on Massachusetts Avenue.
Moresi & Associates was given a special permit to operate the redemption center and create professonal office space in the former Ravel Technologies building at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue.
David Moresi, a local contractor, said he expected the redemption center to open in May and hoped to get a boost in business if the governor's proposal to expand the types of returnable bottles goes through.
"We don't have any competition here," said Moresi, noting there was no redemption centers in either North Adams or Williamstown. (A center had been located in a former service station on Union Street but closed some time ago.)
BFAIR (Berkshire Family and Individual Resources) will operate the center; local schools will be invited to run bottle and can drives. Moresi will also accept nonreturnable aluminum cans for recycling.
In addition to the 600-square-foot center, the building will contain eight offices for lease that share common areas. Green technology will be used to make the building more energy-efficent.
Moresi plans to buy the property from Bard Properties Corp., which purchased it from Greylock Realty Trust for $130,000 in 2000.
Sidewalk Issue Holds Up Access Ramp in Williamstown
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Selectmen tabled a request on Monday night to install a handicapped ramp on Spring Street until the town counsel could review it.
The ramp for a Subway planned at 31 Spring St., formerly occupied by Li Asia Gallery, would extend over the sidewalk from 10 1/2 inches to nearly two feet. The bulk of the nearly 4-foot wide ramp would lie within the property line because the shop's front wall is inset.
David Westall of Westall Associates said the dimensions for the ramp are determined by the state Architectural Access Board and "chances of getting a variance from the state board are unlikely."
Approving the ramp would mean allowing a private property owner to permanently encroach upon public property, something Director of Public Works Timothy Kaiser said he did not remember ever happening during his time with town.
So-called temporary encroachments, such as mailboxes and tree plantings, are allowed because they can be removed. Pouring a concrete ramp would be quite different. There are a number of concrete and stone stoops more than two feet wide along the street but Kaiser said they have been in place since at least 1915.
Town Manager Peter Fohlin said town meeting, not the Selectmen, might have to authorize such an encroachment.
It was decided after some discussion to table the request until town counsel could review it. Selectman Thomas Costley asked that Westall come back with an estimate on how much it would cost to push the storefront back another foot to see how much a hardship it would be for the business. Selectman Ronald Turbin asked for an artist's rendering of what the ramp would look like.
The matter will be taken up at the next meeting on March 23.
In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Cosmo Catalano as the town's representative to the Mount Greylock Advisory Board. Catalano will remain on the mountain's oversight board because he has been named as the state's representative. Scott Lewis was appointed to replace him as town representative. Lewis is director of the Williams College Outing Club.
MCLA Science Center Funding OK
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The funding problems that halted the University of Massachusetts at Lowell's planned $90 million science center won't affect similar plans at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
UMass-Lowell had hoped to break ground on the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center this spring, but the state agency that funds capital projects at the university couldn't raise the $35 million needed because of the credit crunch.
MCLA, on the other hand, is assured its funding, said James Stakenas, vice president of administration and finance.
"Ours is all part of a state bond," he said. "The funding hasn't been released yet but it is a different funding mechanism than UMass."
MCLA's $54.5 million for the Center for Science and Technology was inserted into the $2.2 billion higher education bill passed last year.
Lanesborough Budget Looking Grim
Lanesborough News
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Finance Committee is in the midst of working on the town budget for fiscal 2010, and the outlook is somewhat pessimistic.
We are projecting about $135,000 decrease in state aid, $45,000 decrease in new growth, and $90,000 less in local receipts, which all provide income to the town.
The budget passed at town meeting is funded by property taxes plus these other revenue streams. With the 2.5 percent limit on tax increases, as per Proposition 2 1/2, and decreases in the revenue streams, fulfilling everyone's wish list will be difficult at best.
During March and April, the various revenue and expense numbers will become more defined, and the overall budget will be worked to provide the services that Lanesborough citizens have chosen at previous town meetings, and provide some assurance that the following years will be able to be funded as well.
— Bill Stevens
Volunteers Needed for Town Committees
Lanesborough News
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Volunteers are needed to fill vacancies on the following town committees: Finance Committee, Conservation Commission, Cable Committee and the Council on Aging.
Volunteer participation strengthens our town government. Participation by volunteers provides vital input to governing and gives a lot of satisfaction to the volunteers. Each of us should seriously consider volunteering. Contact the Town Administrator Paul Boudreau at 413-442-1167 and volunteer for one of these vacancies today.
— Al Hartheimer
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